WSC board to meet with unions

Hours after Minister of Labour Dion Foulkes certified the strike votes of both unions at the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC), the WSC board signaled that it is willing to meet with them to iron out a resolution, Bahamas Utilities Services and Allied Workers Union (BUSAWU) President Dwayne Woods said yesterday.

“I must say that the corporation in all of its wisdom has already sent an invite for us to come and meet with them,” Woods told reporters.

“We look forward to going to that and coming out optimistically… with a resolution.”

The meeting is scheduled to take place on May 7, Woods said.

Woods thanked Foulkes and Director of Labour John Pinder and said that both unions are hoping for an expeditious resolution.

Woods pointed to what he said was WSC’s “failure to adhere to the promotional procedure” as major issue for his union.

“The second one is Water and Sewerage’s failure to post the organizational chart showing positions that are filled and vacancies.

“The third issue was the breach of Article 1401, which speaks to the union leave [which] belongs to the people”

Water and Sewerage Management Union (WSMU) President Ednel Rolle added that his union’s issue is simply the signing of an industrial agreement.

“Our issue is only one issue [and that is] the signing of the industrial agreement,” Rolle said.

Both unions recently held strike polls to address longstanding issues with the WSC board.

Laurent started at The Nassau Guardian in May 2018 as a paginator. He transitioned to reporting in February 2019. Laurent has covered multiple crime stories. He is the author of “Yello”, which was published in February 2019.Education: Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) 3rd Year